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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26089711">Lies Undone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimirce/pseuds/kimirce'>kimirce</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>next stop, anywhere [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Arthur Learns The Truth, BAMF Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Eavesdropping, Episode: s02e08 The Sins Of The Father, Fix-it fic, Gen, Reveal, Sins of the Father fix-it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:08:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,038</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26089711</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimirce/pseuds/kimirce</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The day after Morgause's deception nearly tricked Arthur into killing his own father, Arthur overhears a very interesting conversation between his manservant and King Uther.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin &amp; Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>next stop, anywhere [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1838635</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>342</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Lies Undone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That night, Arthur barely slept. In the morning, he pulled himself out of bed long before Merlin was due to wake him, and went straight to the training grounds. He felt oddly numb, but also shaky, with echoes of rage still pulsing in his blood. He thought about finding someone to help him into his armor, but decided against it. He didn’t need armor. He just needed to hit something.</p><p>A quarterstaff and a straw dummy suited his needs, and it was early. The grounds were nearly empty, which Arthur was grateful for. He felt ready to maim anyone who looked at him wrong. The weight of the wood in his hands was comforting as he swung the staff in practiced motions, losing himself to the rhythm of his body.</p><p>It had been so easy, to lay his father at his feet and press a blade to his heart. There had been no contest, not truly.</p><p>He remembered his mother’s face, so much like his own. Was it even her likeness? He wondered. Perhaps the sorceress had merely invented it. A fiction to get the Crown Prince of Camelot to dance to her tune. He swung the quarterstaff with greater force, humiliation and grief warring in his chest. The sorceress had not only cruelly tricked him into nearly killing his own father, but had torn open a wound so old that it had scarred before he was old enough to understand it.</p><p>If it hadn’t been for Merlin…</p><p>The training dummy’s sackcloth head fell to the ground in tatters. Arthur ignored it, and spun to deal another blow. His shoulders trembled. The exertion, combined with riding on little sleep and the battle against his father, was finally getting to him. But still he did not stop, until the dummy fell to pieces at his feet, hay strewn about.</p><p>Arthur closed his eyes and breathed, resisting the urge to throw the staff to the ground and storm out of the training grounds. It was the memory of Merlin’s voice that checked him, reminding him that someone always had to clean up his messes, overlaid with the memory of one of the knights who had trained him as a boy. Sir Ector had taught him to always respect his weapons.</p><p>So instead Arthur braced himself against the wood a moment, then turned and walked away, returning the staff to its place, where a wary squire took it to clean and polish with a quiet “My lord.”</p><p>It was midmorning. The practice field had gradually filled, but Arthur hadn’t noticed.</p><p>Arthur began the trudge back to his rooms, thinking that he would have Merlin order a bath. Perhaps if he felt clean, it would be easier to mask his bruised heart. As he walked up the stairs, muscles in his shoulders and thighs protested and seized, and he fought back a wince as he realized he had overstrained himself.</p><p>The repetitive motion, hard riding, and lack of sleep, water and sustenance had taken its toll. He’d had worse, much worse, but not without good reason. This had just been careless. The bath would help, but…</p><p>A groan rose in his chest at the remembrance that he had four new knights to train tomorrow morning, and a small feast to attend that night. He didn’t dare let any of them see that something was wrong. After yesterday, the rumors would be bad enough.</p><p>He’d have Merlin bring up some of the salve that Gaius would send up after particularly taxing days. With that and the bath, he would be fine in the morning. Then he remembered that he had no idea where Merlin was, and he didn’t particularly want to make any of the other servants aware of his request. He would track Merlin down, but he wanted to get back to his rooms.</p><p>Arthur sighed. Gaius’ chambers were close, it would hardly be out of his way. Doing his own fetching itched at his pride, but it would itch his pride worse to be stiff in front of his new knights tomorrow. He took a breath, forcing his body to relax, and turned to make his way down the corridor.</p><p>When he arrived at the physician’s chambers, Gaius was not there. Neither was Merlin. Arthur poked through the many bottles and pots, hoping to find something he recognized. He smelled a few, but none of them seemed quite right. If he got it wrong, he could end up with a rash or just no effect at all. He resigned himself to waiting for the return of either the physician or his ward.</p><p>He glanced around the room, bored and sore. Every spare surface was covered in parchment and bottles, with the occasional cooking implement bracing a book, and dried herbs scattered on the windowsill and hanging on the walls. Somehow, both Gaius and Merlin seemed to find their way around the clutter with little trouble, but to anyone else it spelled confusion.</p><p>The scent of the room was familiar, and somehow soothing: parchment and herbs and drying ink. But something was missing…</p><p>Arthur shook the thought off, and looked up towards Merlin’s room. He had only been inside his servant’s room a couple times, like when he had to search the castle for signs of sorcery. It almost seemed odd, given how much time Merlin’s spent in Arthur’s chambers. But of course it was not, because Merlin was his servant.</p><p>Merlin was bad enough at keeping Arthur’s chambers tidy, and that he was paid to do. His own room had been even worse. Without really thinking about it, Arthur walked up the steps and into Merlin’s room. It could hardly be an invasion of privacy when Arthur himself had no privacy from Merlin at all, he reasoned.</p><p>The sheets were rumpled on Merlin’s cot, and there were books piled on the chest against the wall, and more books on the floor. Parchment covered in what Arthur recognized as Merlin’s unusually neat handwriting, especially for a peasant, were shoved in a corner. The cupboard was open, and Merlin’s tunics were crumpled up inside. A mess, just as he had expected.</p><p>He wandered over and picked up one of the books. He opened it to a page which showed a diagram of the bones in the hand, and a thinner piece of parchment fell out. He bent to pick it up and replace it. It had notes in Merlin’s handwriting. He raised his eyebrows, seeing that many of the other books had such notes as well. How much studying was Gaius having Merlin do?</p><p>The door in the main chambers clunked, and Arthur started despite himself. He suddenly realized that randomly poking around his servant’s room was a bit odd. Gaius would not dare to comment, of course, but would give him a disapproving look, and Merlin would dare to comment, but would drop it quickly. He was about to walk back into the room to announce himself and finally get that salve, when –</p><p>“Gaius?”</p><p>It was his father! What was he doing here? Arthur flushed, realizing that while he could pass off his presence in Merlin’s room to either Merlin or Gaius with relative ease, he didn’t dare try to explain to his father why he was in his manservant’s room. Not that he wanted to face his father at all, given the previous day’s events. Arthur stayed hidden.</p><p>Receiving no answer, but apparently content to wait, his father started shuffling through some of the papers on the table.</p><p>Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. How did he get into these situations? This kind of thing had been much less frequent before Merlin had stumbled into his life. He was quite content to blame Merlin for this.</p><p>Thankfully, it was not long before he heard the main door again.</p><p>“My lord,” It was Merlin’s voice, startled and significantly more deferent than it ever was when addressing Arthur.</p><p>The king spoke. “I wanted to thank you in person for your actions yesterday. You are a loyal servant to Arthur. I am most grateful.” Arthur blinked, surprised. His father was here to thank Merlin? That was a surprise.</p><p>“I was just doing my duty,” Merlin sounded nervous, his words rushed.</p><p>“You’ve proven yourself to be a trusted ally in the fight against magic,” the king continued.</p><p>“Me?” Merlin sounded breathless, and a bit disbelieving. Arthur recognized his father’s tone. He was lecturing, saying what he believed he needed to say, and he didn’t really care what someone said in return.</p><p>“Those who practice magic will seek to exploit Arthur’s inexperience. They will attempt to corrupt him with such lies. You must be extra vigilant.”</p><p>Arthur couldn’t decide whether he should be offended by the implication that he needed his servant to guard him from deceit. He peered through the crack in the doorframe. He could see a portion of his father’s back, and had a clear view of Merlin’s face. And so, he was staring right at Merlin when his features tensed, and then relaxed. His back straightened, his lips firmed, and his eyes rose up to the king’s face.</p><p>Arthur nearly groaned, suddenly afraid for his manservant – who was also his friend. He recognized what it looked like when Merlin decided to speak his mind, and, as Morgana would say, damn the consequences.</p><p>Merlin gave him that look all the time, after all, and it was usually followed by oddly wise advice or brave declarations. But Arthur had not thought that Merlin was stupid enough to speak so to his father, who would not be nearly so lenient as Arthur was. His father seemed to sense the change as well, stilling.</p><p>Merlin spoke. “You and I both know that it was not Morgause who lied yesterday.”</p><p>
  <em>What?</em>
</p><p>Arthur saw his father’s fist clench as his own heart leapt into his throat.</p><p>“How dare you,” the king said, voice suddenly fraught with barely contained rage. But he didn’t deny it.</p><p>“I said what I said for Arthur. I do not know if Arthur would ever forgive either of us for how we’ve lied to him, but I do know that Arthur would never have been able to forgive himself if he’d gone through with killing you. It would have destroyed him.”</p><p>Arthur saw his father literally shaking with fury. He struggled to process Merlin’s words.</p><p>
  <em>…how we’ve lied to him…</em>
</p><p>“I should run you through where you stand,” Uther said, hand going to the hilt of his sword. Arthur’s hand went to his own sword hilt in response, knowing in that instant that he would not allow that to happen, only to find his sword belt <em>missing</em>. He had taken it off. His muscles were tense and trembling as he continued to watch.</p><p>Merlin was not cowed.</p><p>“I only want to protect Arthur. I will not tell him the truth. But one day, you should.”</p><p>“Who are you to tell a king what he should do?” Uther’s grip on his sword was white-knuckled.</p><p>“I am your son’s loyal servant. My lord.”</p><p>Merlin’s eyes went down, adopting a more demure countenance as he awaited the king’s judgement.</p><p>A long moment passed. Uther’s hand relaxed. “I will spare you,” he said measuredly, “on account of your loyalty to my son and the debt I owe you. But I will not be so merciful again. If you ever speak of any of this to another living soul, I will have you hanged.”</p><p>“Right, of course. Yes, my lord.” Merlin dipped his head, and remained in a posture of subservience until the king left the room.</p><p>Arthur’s heart pounded in his chest. It had been true. It had all been true. And Merlin had lied to him, had stopped him from killing his own father, even though he deserved it, because he knew it would hurt Arthur.</p><p>And Arthur’s father had been ready to kill Merlin, because he knew the truth.</p><p>The rage and betrayal which had barely been cooled by humiliation and placating lies yesterday ignited once more. Arthur bit them down. This time, he would not act so rashly.</p><p>Merlin was standing, staring after the king, when Gaius walked in the open door. “Was that Uther I saw just leaving?” He asked quietly.</p><p>“Yeah. He just popped in to say hello.” Merlin sounded as though he were on the edge of hysteria.</p><p>“Merlin. What did he want?” Gaius demanded, fear in his voice.</p><p>“He wanted to thank me for being a trusted ally in the fight against magic.”</p><p>Gaius looked stunned, and then almost amused.</p><p>“And then I told him that one day he should tell Arthur the truth about it all.”</p><p>Arthur could see Gaius’ eyes widen from across the room.</p><p>“Merlin! How you’ve managed to keep that head on your shoulders in a mystery beyond our greatest minds. What were you thinking?”</p><p>Arthur agreed that it had been rather stupid. But he was grateful to have seen it, all the same.</p><p>“That I wanted to tell the truth for once. Gods, Gaius, Arthur was ready to accept magic. To defend it, even. And I ruined that. What have I done?”</p><p>He stepped back and sat on one of the benches, head in his hands. He sounded…defeated, almost heartbroken. Gaius went to set something down on the table.</p><p>“It was a difficult choice, my boy. You did the right thing.”</p><p>Merlin seemed unconvinced. “It doesn’t feel like it.”</p><p>Gaius watched Merlin carefully. “Your life would have been easier and safer if you had let Uther die.”</p><p>Merlin hummed in agreement.</p><p>“You must have been tempted.”</p><p>Merlin hesitated. “Maybe for a moment,” he answered. “But Arthur wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if he’d gone through with it. It would have destroyed him,” Merlin said, nearly the same words he had spoken to Uther. Repeating it like that, it almost seemed like he was trying to convince himself.</p><p>Gaius’ sharp eyes lingered on Merlin’s face. “I’m proud of you, Merlin.”</p><p>Merlin laughed weakly and kicked his feet up. “Well, there’s that at least. You know, Arthur was thanking me too.”</p><p>Gaius snorted. “I’m sure it won’t last.”</p><p>“Probably not,” Merlin agreed. He sighed. “I should go find him, actually. He was already gone when I went to bring him breakfast, so I went to gather the juniper and comfrey you wanted. He’s probably going to be in a terrible mood.”</p><p>Gaius nodded in agreement. “I suppose he can’t really be blamed for that, given everything.”</p><p>Merlin stood and stretched. “I can blame him. That prat has it easy.” He joked. “Should I put the juniper and the comfrey on the table?”</p><p>He received a nod in return. “I’ll set it out to dry,” Gaius said. “And then you can grind it.”</p><p>Merlin shrugged. “Better than cleaning the leech tank,” he said. “Or cleaning up after Arthur.” He picked up a satchel from the bench and pulled out two bundles of herbs, quickly clearing a spot on the messy table to lay them down.</p><p>Arthur wasn’t sure what to do. He and Merlin clearly needed to have a talk about keeping secrets and <em>lying</em> to the Crown Prince. He needed to ferret out what secrets exactly Merlin had been hiding – there had been a hint in that conversation that Merlin had been glad that Arthur had no longer hated magic, and given that Arthur had spent a very long time convinced that his manservant was afraid of the very thought of magic… Well. There was clearly more going on than Arthur was aware of. And Gaius was obviously privy to these secrets as well, but Arthur wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to both of them at once.</p><p>If Merlin decided to stop in his room before wandering off to find Arthur, he might not have a choice. He glanced back at Merlin’s window, then dismissed that thought immediately. Trying to climb out of a small window from a high tower in full view of the town was not a particularly brilliant strategy. He could hide and hope Merlin didn’t see him, but given how small the room was, that wasn’t a brilliant option either.</p><p>Thankfully, though, Merlin merely fussed with his boots, said goodbye to Gaius, and then left.</p><p>Now, Arthur only had to wait for Gaius to leave… which might take a while. He wanted to thunk his head against the door, but refrained.</p><p>Gaius tied the herbs Merlin had picked by the stalks, and then went to add them to the collection of hanging plants by the window. Then, he bent over a book on the workbench. Arthur quickly grew very bored and very agitated.</p><p>He wanted to work out his frustration and make a plan for what to do next – about his lying, murderous, hypocritical father, and his lying but apparently well-intentioned manservant, but there was little he could do while hiding in said manservant’s room.</p><p>Arthur wanted to pace, but worried the sound of footsteps would give him away. He could be very quiet, but it wasn’t worth the risk. At this point, he’d been hiding in Merlin’s bedroom for nearly an hour. He’d look the fool if he revealed himself now.</p><p>Merlin was probably wondering where he was, though. Arthur would tell him. Later.</p><p>So. His father was in fact a murderous tyrant who had sacrificed Arthur’s mother to bring about Arthur’s birth, and then had turned on innocent sorcerers and slaughtered them to appease his guilt and grief. Innocent sorcerers. What a strange idea.</p><p>He hated to admit it, but it wasn’t hard to believe. There had been so many times that Arthur’s own sense of what was right had contradicted his father’s orders, so many times he had protested unnecessary cruelty…only to capitulate, bowing his head in submission to a wiser, more experienced ruler. No more.</p><p>The first time he had nearly drawn steel on his father had been the day that Uther had wrapped a hand around Morgana’s throat. His hand had darted to his sword hilt instinctively, registering the king as a threat. He had remembered himself a moment later, but the memory struck him now. He had known it was wrong, but he had done nothing, remained silent. Perhaps he truly was the coward that Morgana named him. His fingers worked, longing to wrap around a weapon.</p><p>Finally, Gaius stood up, muttered to himself, and walked out. Arthur waited a moment, to be sure he wouldn’t return, then stepped out of Merlin’s room.</p><p>Part of him wanted to find his father and finish their confrontation from yesterday, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t be wise. He needed to speak to Merlin first. And he still needed a bath, and some of Gaius’ muscle salve. His clothes and skin were still tacky with dried sweat.</p><p>He had rushed into things yesterday, allowing righteous anger to cloud his judgement. The anger still burned, but today he was more equipped to compartmentalize it, set it aside for the time being. It was what he had been trained to do, as a soldier and a future king. The first things he needed to do were gather information and gather his strength. Both of which led him to Merlin.</p><p>Arthur slipped out of the Court Physician’s chambers to search for his wayward manservant, deep in thought.</p><p>*</p><p>Arthur quickly gave up on finding Merlin anywhere in the castle grounds, and instead returned to his chambers to wait. Surely Merlin would find him there at some point. And because he didn’t want to wait for Merlin to show up, he ordered a passing chambermaid to have a bath brought up for him. She curtsied, eyes downcast, and hurried off with a demure “Right away, sire.”</p><p>In his chambers, his bed had been made, which meant that Merlin had returned at some point. He toed off his boots and settled at his desk to think and wait.</p><p>It was not long until two servants entered to arrange his bath. Arthur ignored them as they hauled in buckets of steaming water to fill the tub, staring into nothingness, fingers laced together.</p><p>Merlin had always been something of a mystery, hadn’t he? Challenging the prince without a hint of fear, then saving his life without hesitation, again and again. Every emotion was always written clearly on his face, but sometimes Arthur could not for the life of him figure out what they meant.</p><p>
  <em>Arthur was ready to accept magic…I ruined it…</em>
</p><p>Merlin’s words rung in his mind. Maybe that was why Merlin was so unfathomable sometimes. He was keeping a secret, all this time. Merlin sympathized with magic.</p><p>And yet, just yesterday, he had convinced Arthur yet again that magic was evil, and that the sorceress Morgause was manipulating him. Why had he done that, if his true desire was to see Arthur accept magic?</p><p>
  <em>…it would have destroyed him…</em>
</p><p>Arthur was angry that Merlin had lied to him – that he had stopped Arthur from avenging his mother and hardened his heart to Morgause, the one person who had actually seen fit to tell Arthur the truth. But he found that he could not hold onto his anger towards Merlin, if only because of those words.</p><p>He would be more wary of Merlin for lying about his sympathies toward magic, as well, if not for those words. Merlin had sounded heartbroken at the loss of Arthur’s goodwill towards magic, but still, he had put what he thought Arthur needed before his own wants. He may have been misguided, but he had proved his loyalty.</p><p>There could not be any more lying. Merlin would tell him all the truth he knew and then they would move forward, together.</p><p>It was clear now that it was his father who was the problem. Arthur felt his own heart breaking at that realization. His fury was banked for the moment, but that only meant that the sorrow he felt was free to take the place of anger. Uther could be cold and domineering, but Arthur had loved him and admired him all his life. He strove to earn Uther’s praise, to one day become a king who was worthy to follow in his father’s footsteps.</p><p>But now he admitted to himself a truth that had been locked away in his heart for some time now. He did not want to be the kind of king that Uther was. He wanted to be a king that was fair and just – that was loved by his people, not feared.</p><p>He took a moment to allow himself to picture it – a golden kingdom, where none lived in fear or went hungry; Lancelot, knighted as he should have been so long ago and protecting the kingdom alongside Arthur; Morgana, given a seat on Arthur’s council and helping him to rule justly; Guinevere and Merlin happy, beside him and Morgana as they always were. And…magic. What would a kingdom where magic was free even look like? Uther would warn that such a kingdom would dissolve into chaos and darkness, but Arthur no longer trusted him.</p><p>Maybe Morgause would be there too, helping to return magic to Camelot. Arthur owed her a great deal, for telling him the truth when no one else would.</p><p><em>Morgana would like her,</em> Arthur mused. She’d always been sympathetic to magic, and she admired Morgause’s skill with a blade. He blew out a breath. Morgana would be <em>furious</em> when she learned the truth that he had.</p><p>The servants finished drawing the bath. Arthur stood and dismissed them, deep in thought.</p><p>*</p><p>An hour later, Arthur was still ensconced in his chambers, clean and dressed, sitting in a chair facing the door. The pain in his muscles had eased some, though he would still need to send Merlin for that salve.</p><p>The door creaked. Merlin slipped in, to be met immediately by Arthur’s cool gaze.</p><p>Merlin paused where he was. “Er, do you need something?” he asked, slightly hesitant.</p><p>“Yes,” Arthur said, and stood. “First, you can go fetch that muscle salve I like from Gaius,” he said, stepping closer to his suddenly unsure manservant. “And then, <em>Mer</em>lin, we have a great deal to discuss.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The ending's a bit rushed, but I like this piece otherwise.</p><p>Sins of the Father has always been the episode I have been most desperate to fix. As such, I've actually written a few different fix-it fics for this episode. If you'd like to read another Sins of the Father fix-it that has some similar themes to this one (but actually goes into the next steps Arthur takes to remove Uther from the throne) I suggest you go check out my other fic, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24443242/chapters/58980679">The Reign of Truth</a>.</p><p>Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this! I'd love to hear what you think in the comments, and please feel free to come say hi to me on <a href="https://kimirce.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> as well!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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